FALLUJAH, Sept 26: At least 25 people were killed in US air strikes on Fallujah and an insurgent attack on a petrol convoy in the nearby town of Latifiya on Sunday.
The latest US air strike on Fallujah targeted what commanders claimed was a meeting place for militants of suspected Al Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi's Unity and Holy War group, which is holding Briton Kenneth Bigley hostage. But medics in the town, west of Baghdad, said there were again women and children among the casualties.
"Intelligence sources indicated that approximately 10 terrorists were meeting at this location to plan operations targeting innocent Iraqi civilians and multinational forces," the US military said.
Two hospitals in the city reported receiving eight dead and 22 wounded, including women and children, while residents said many victims remained under the rubble. At least two homes in the area were destroyed while others suffered significant damage.
After the latest air strike on Fallujah, doctors would not let a Reuters cameraman film the wounded as reporters have been allowed to do after previous strikes on Fallujah. Residents would also not allow reporters near the site of the attack.
"Multiple secondary explosions following the strike indicate the site was used by terrorists to store explosives and weapons," a military statement said. Fallujah, about 50km west of Baghdad, is home to some of Iraq's most hardened Sunni militants.
US forces tried to overrun Fallujah earlier this year, but withdrew after weeks of furious fighting. Since then, they say it has become a centre of foreign militants. A senior US military official said more than 100 of Zarqawi's followers had been killed or captured in Fallujah in the last four weeks.
An earlier US air strike on another alleged hideout of the militants killed seven Iraqis and wounded 11, again including women and children, according to medics. Following the air strikes, twin car bombings struck US and Iraqi security forces west of Fallujahh, causing casualties of both nationalities, a US commander said.
No further details were immediately available late afternoon. Another 10 people were killed in an insurgent attack on a convoy of petrol tankers in Latifiya, an insurgent bastion immediately south of Baghdad, medics said.
Iraqi security sources said a group of attackers sprayed gunfire on the tankers, setting fire to all five trucks and sparking a fierce firefight with national guardsmen escorting the convoy.
One Iraqi was killed and four people wounded when a mortar round ploughed into a busy shopping district of Baghdad, police said. Police also reported a farmer was killed when he got caught in clashes between US troops and insurgents near the town of Baquba, north of the capital. -Agencies
